


i dream in binary

by notictus



Category: Black Mirror (TV)
Genre: Denial, Episode: s05e01 Striking Vipers, M/M, Repression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-08 19:02:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20840447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notictus/pseuds/notictus
Summary: In the game, every touch is electric.





	i dream in binary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [asuralucier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/asuralucier/gifts).

“Hey man, have you ever—”

Karl interrupts himself with a howl as Roxette aims a triple kick at Lance’s chest, draining half of his HP in a single attack. Danny watches helplessly as Lance recoils, stumbling backwards before delivering an uppercut of his own.

“Have I ever what?” Danny bites out.

Karl is so engrossed that it takes him a few seconds to reply. “Have you ever thought about, y’know. Doing it with another guy?”

Danny’s stomach drops. His palms prickle with sweat, his grip gone lax as the controller nearly falls out of his hands. On the TV, Lance falls victim to Roxette’s Tornado Fury Attack, a devastating series of strikes that wipes out the rest of his HP. The letters K.O. flash across the screen, accompanied by Karl’s obnoxious cry of victory as he mimics Roxette’s attack, punching the empty air like he’s Bruce Lee.

“Well?” Karl sets down the controller and fishes for something on the coffee table.

The TV’s stuck on a loading screen, plunging the room into semi-darkness. Karl brings a joint to his lips and lights up, his face briefly illuminated by the soft glow of the flame. Danny’s transfixed by the way his lips curve around the tip, his broad hands cradling the flame as it catches.

When he passes the joint to Danny, their fingers brush.

“No, never,” Danny says, and it tastes like a lie.

In the game, every touch is electric.

There’s laughter in Roxette’s eyes as Lance backs her against the wall, but there’s a challenge there too. Lance smooths his hands over the curve of her hips, letting them linger on her ass before he hoists her up against the wall. Her legs find their way to his waist and latch on tight, locking them together as she begins a slow grind, her mouth fallen open and breath coming fast—as if she could come from this and nothing more.

She moans when Lance presses into her, rakes her nails down his bare back, and she’s hot and she’s slick and she’s _perfect_, yet all Danny can think is _Karl, Karl, Karl._

“We’re not gonna fight. We’re gonna kiss.”

The rain’s coming down hard now, pummelling Danny like thousands of tiny fists. Karl stands before him, completely drenched and utterly dumbstruck, backlit by streetlamps and looking like everything Danny’s ever wanted. Danny forces himself to continue. “If there are fireworks then—okay. Bam, it’s an us thing. Whatever. At least we’ve got a foothold on it. So let’s just fucking kiss.”

“Okay,” Karl says, and Danny can barely breathe. His heart feels huge in his chest where it pounds against his ribs, leaving no room for air. Danny is paralysed, and he knows he’s on the precipice of something huge. One misstep and—

“I said okay!”

“I’m working up to it,” Danny says.

“You want me to start?”

Danny shivers, but not from the cold. “I don’t know. Yeah.”

“Okay. Ready?”

Danny can’t even look him in the eye. “Just fucking kiss me, man.”

The kiss is electric. Electric like every touch has always been (Karl’s hand on his shoulder, Karl’s knee pressed against his, innocent and incidental and all of them setting Danny’s nerves alight). Electric like it was in the game (Roxette crying out as Lance drives his body into hers, and nothing will ever feel as perfect as his hands on her waist, as his lips on her skin). Electric like Danny always imagined it would be.

Karl’s hands cradle his face, warm palms soothing the icy bite of the rain. When Karl presses his lips to Danny’s there’s that spark, the one that shoots straight through him, heating him up from the inside until his chest feels like it’s going to burst. Karl holds on tight as if he’s afraid Danny’s going to back out, while Danny uses all his self-control to resist drawing him closer.

It’s a chaste kiss. Close-mouthed and restrained. It lasts all of five seconds. But Danny _knows_, knows like he’s always known.

When Karl draws back, Danny misses his touch instantly. His face is impassive; Danny’s never been unable to read him, never _not _known what he was thinking. Until—

“Nope,” Karl says, shaking his head. “Not a damn thing.”

Danny’s heart lodges in his throat, his hands trembling where they hang by his sides. It’s almost impossible to meet Karl’s eyes.

“Nah me neither,” Danny says, and it tastes like a lie.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Podfic: 'i dream in binary' by notictus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26729935) by [peasina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peasina/pseuds/peasina)


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